The Democrats are complaining that their government/media complex driven message of, ‘Iraq war hate’, is starting to fizzle.
And, ummm, why exactly shouldn’t it?
Like every other American out there, I want to know the specifics on the battle our troops are fighting. I want to know that American lives have not been given in vain. I want to make sure that the candidates have an exit strategy so we are not stuck there, like say we are in Vietnam or the Korea’s.
But quite frankly I could list off a whole pantheon of domestic issues that mean more to me than does the Iraq war.
It’s not that I don’t care. But it is a realization: that no matter who was President, Kerry, Gore, McCain, et all, we would still be at war in Iraq. For the most part Presidents only respond to military situation- most decisions of war, peace, troop deployments, are made by the Military Generals, most of whom have served multiple presidents. In other words, there is a backbone of foreign policy that doesn’t change. The President has very little influence over the decisions of foreign policy.
Which brings me to my point: why exactly then shouldn’t we focus on domestic issues?
Issues of immigration, the NAU, reducing federal regulation and growth, cutting taxes are something I can contribute to. You, me, the media, we are not in the military. They have access to all the data, we don’t. What makes you assume that you can do their job?
On the other hand, take for instance Immigration. This issue affects everyone. It affects your security, your neighborhoods, your job, the economic conditions of your local hospital. It affects your culture, your community, the crime rate in your neighborhood. Quite simply- this is a legitimate focus for decision making as far as whom should be President.
Don’t believe me that this is an issue first and foremost in Republican voters minds? Take a look at the data. The Republican fundraising troubles started directly after Republican leadership pushed for Amnesty. The McCain and Guilliani campaigns know this all to well, they where widely viewed as the GOP favorites until the voters, bloggers and Conservatives joined forces to get the Amnesty bill shut-down. And now their campaigns are in a state of turmoil. Hell, McCain was BOOED during the YouTube debate. And your telling me immigration policy is NOT a front and center issue? Please.
Mark my words- Republicans will also unite against government run healthcare as we did with immigration. Whoever emerges as a GOP front-runner had better be prepared to face the conservative blogosphere on this issue. Right now there is simply just distaste and scorn for the candidates whom cater to the ‘moderates’ by proposing some trimmed down version of Hillarycare. But read this- as soon as a leader emerges, the new political power that the Conservative base has found in online message boards, blogs and meet-up network sites will demand that the candidate have a answer that fits in with traditional GOP philosophy. Anything short would amount to continued fund raising issues and general Republican base disinterest.
In short- this new shift to domestic issues is a direct response to the ‘new media’ driven public policy debates. No longer will the MSM get to control the issues that ‘the voters should focus on’. Watch most of the MSM political reporters- they view with scorn the fact that we have forced immigration as a main election issue. And given that the Democrats have largely relied on Bush-Hate and Iraq-War-Hate to drive their political base over the last 7 years, you can almost hear them saying, “uh oh”.
Keep up the pressure bloggers, we are succeeding in destroying the government/media complex driven Presidential debates. Let us hope the candidates listen and respond to the expectations that we have for them. Anything less would be unacceptable.
Isn’t progress great?
